The perception of motherhood amongst women living in Malta : a comparative discourse analysis

Abstract

This study aims at finding out the perception of women living in Malta regarding motherhood. It focuses on finding out if women perceive any societal pressures to become mothers. By making use of qualitative methodology this study compares the perception of women of different ages in order to explore if the concept of motherhood has changed with time. Three focus groups were carried out amongst women living in Malta and who are of three different age groups between 20 years and 36 years and over 60 years. These participants were recruited through online platforms and snowball sampling. The focus groups were carried out using the videoconferencing platform Zoom. The data collected was analysed through comparative discourse analysis. The main areas of discussion that came out from this analysis were the role of women as mothers, expectation to bring up children, the role of grandparents, change in lifestyle, contraceptive use, women outside the ‘norm’ including mothers in same-sex relationships, mothers with disabilities, and childless women, and religion. One of the implications of this study is that women are empowered to speak about an experience that affects them as women. Further research is suggested in areas such as contraceptive use and mothers with disabilities. A policy change is also suggested in changing the number of days of paternity leave.